1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shielded signal wire, for example a shielded signal wire that transmits a head output signal reproduced from a recording medium by a rotary head of a rotary head type digital audio tape recorder (DAT) or that transmits a recording signal to the rotary head.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional rotary head type tape recorder, head output signals obtained from the rotary head are of very low amplitude, and hence the wire by means of which they are conducted to a circuit board having the necessary signal processing unit arranged on it must be shielded. The shielding prevents noise from the surroundings from infiltrating the signals and degrading them.
However, such a shielded wire, which includes a mesh wire for shielding arranged around the signal wire, is quite thick. Hence there is a significant spatial problem particularly when the tape recorder is to be reduced in size.
Moreover, soldering is required in order to connect the shielded wire to the rotary head and the circuit board, and this increases the number of production steps. In addition, reliability deteriorates because in a certain percentage of cases the soldering may be imperfect.
The rotary heads normally have two channels, channel A and channel B, and when multicore shielded wire is used for conducting the signals of the two channels, the shield wire becomes stiff. Thus, in a tape recorder in which the drum on which the rotary head is mounted is movable in accordance with its mode of operation, there is the problem that the load on the actuator for controlling movement of the drum increases. An actuator of substantial size and power is required, which further militates against miniaturization.